Mobile Phones Made 58% of Total Web Traffic Last Year, 4% Less than in 2022

Although more than 97% of all internet users owned a smartphone last year, almost 2% more than the year before, mobile’s share of total web traffic actually dropped.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, mobile phones made 57.9% of total web traffic in 2023, or nearly 4% less than the year before.

The Second-Largest Web Traffic Share Drop in the Past Decade

Thanks to their ever-growing user base, which has practically doubled since 2013, mobile phones have more than doubled their web traffic share.

According to DataReportal Digital 2024 Global Overview Report, mobile phones made up only 22.2% of total web traffic in 2013. Two years later, this figure jumped to 38.6% and continued rising. After hitting 52.4% in 2017, mobile’s share of web traffic dropped by 6.5% year-over-year to 49% in 2018, the biggest decrease in the past decade.

However, the following years saw a surge in the use of mobile phones for browsing the web. Despite the 1.55% drop in 2021, mobile phone’s web traffic share still jumped by 10% in four years and hit an all-time high of 60.3% in 2022.

Although a 57.9% share in 2023 also represents a significant increase compared to previous years, the 4% year-over-year drop was still the second largest in the past decade. This decline is even more interesting when looking at other devices used for web browsing.

Statistics show laptops and PCs made 40.06% of total web traffic in 2023 or 6.3% more than the year before. Tablets also witnessed a downturn, with their share plunging by 2.5% year-over-year to 1.95%, while other devices, such as gaming consoles, made up 0.06% of total web traffic, or twice as much as the year before.

The United States, Japan, and Switzerland are Among the Countries with the Lowest Share of Mobile Web Traffic

Although the global share of mobile web traffic stood at 57.9% last year, there were significant differences between the countries. According to a DataReportal survey, Nigeria had by far the highest share of mobile internet traffic at 87.6% in 2023. Vietnam and South Africa followed, with 84.5% and 82%, respectively.

This figure was much lower in the Western countries. For example, Germany and the United Kingdom were both below the world average, with 48.2% and 47.2% shares, respectively. Statistics also show the United States, Japan, and Switzerland were among the countries with the lowest mobile web traffic shares, standing at 41.4%, 35.6%, and 35.6%, respectively. However, mobile phones were the least used for web browsing in Denmark, where they made up only 28.1% of total web traffic.